Sports Hall Court Markings: Line Colour Guide

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We’ve all walked into a sports hall and seen that mess of lines on the floor, all of different colours. Seeing them all together, it’s hard to tell which court markings mean what, especially if you’re a beginner to sports like netball and badminton, where staying between the lines is essential.

But fear not, as we’ve put together a line colour guide to help you find your way around a sports hall.

Netball – Red

Seasoned netball players will know that you should stay between the red lines when the game is in play. This is especially important as players are only allowed in certain areas of the court: Goal Shooter in the final third, Centre everywhere but the Ds at each end of the court, and so on. Unlike other sports like basketball, you also can’t shoot from outside the circle.

The same goes for the centre throw, which takes place at the beginning of every quarter and after every goal, during which, each player has a starting position on the court.

So if it’s been a while since you played, or if the sports hall has court markings for a large number of sports, think red.

Basketball – Black

Where court markings are essential to all aspects of game play in netball, it’s the shooting ends where the lines are most crucial in basketball.

If you score within the circle it’s a two-pointer, and outside it’s three. When it comes to penalty shots the shooting area is clearly marked.

Badminton – White

With a sport as fast-paced as badminton, that relies on the shuttlecock landing within the lines, it’s important that you know your stuff.

Court markings for sports like badminton and tennis are often added last in sports halls as making in/out line calls is essential. This is less of a priority in slower-moving sports like netball and basketball.

Volleyball – Green

Volleyball courts have relatively simple court markings, split into thirds with a net separating each half of the court.

However, like badminton, in/out line calls are a big part of game play, making the court perimetres crucial, despite the larger ball.

5-a-side Football – Blue/Yellow

While most sports have a dedicated line colour, 5-a-side football pitch markings will usually be blue or yellow. This depends either on the colour of the playing surface, or if there are already markings for another sport e.g. tennis (yellow).

Football is an example of a sport where the lines are less important. Many halls will only have the semi-circles marked out with no perimetre lines as the walls are considered “in-play”.

Tennis – Yellow

The court markings for tennis are hugely important for point scoring. Much like badminton, this often means they are added last to make the lines most prominent for those crucial line-calls.

Tennis court markings in a sports hall are always yellow, meaning that if the hall also have a 5-a-side football, these lines would have to made blue so as to not confuse the markings.